It was a bold move, similar to the move Randy Edsall made during the 2001 season. When starting quarterback Keron Henry was ineffective through the first four games. Edsall went with true freshman Dan Orlovsky, a state kid from Shelton, who just a year earlier had led the undefeated Gaels to the Class LL championship. Orlovsky was the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Huskies since Zeke Rogers in 1992.

Orlovsky started the last six games of the 2001 season. UConn lost them all en route to a 3-9 finish. But he learned, through trial and error.

The next year, 2002, UConn lost six of its first eight games before rallying to win its last four and finish 6-6. In 2003, the Huskies went 9-3, winning its last five, and in 2004 went 8-4 and defeated Toledo in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit.

All with Orlovsky at the helm.

It was rough at first, but the move eventually paid huge dividends for UConn, giving the Huskies, who were just making the jump to full I-A status, early credibility as a football program.

Now's the time to re-establish that credibility with Boyle, who carried Xavier High in Middletown to three straight Class LL championships. He is the first true freshman to start since Orlovsky.

"We feel like at this time we need to give Tim a chance to play and see if he can provide a spark for our team," Weist, UConn's interim coach, said in a statement released Wednesday. "He has been working hard and deserves and opportunity to show what he can do."

Same kind of story

Boyle's story is much like Orlovsky's, who had just turned 18 when he arrived on the Storrs campus in the fall of 2001. With senior Ryan Tracey in front of him and Henry, a redshirt freshman as the back-up, the plan was for Orlovsky to redshirt. But that quickly changed.

"A week before the opener, Tracey decided to leave the program, so that changed my role and I became the back-up for the first game," Orlovsky said in a phone conversation from Tampa, Fla., where he's a backup QB for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "The plan was still to redshirt, but after the first game, things opened up for me to have more of an opportunity."

The Huskies were clobbered in their opener by Virginia Tech 52-10 and Henry completed just 10 of 29 passes for 110 yards. After Henry managed just eight completions for 89 yards against Eastern Washington, seven completions for 106 yards against Buffalo and six completions for 65 yards against South Florida (all losses), Edsall made the move to Orlovsky, who started six of the last seven games.

"When coach came to me and when he told me that he wanted me to be the starting quarterback moving forward, I was excited about it," Orlovsky said. "That was the reason I went there. I wanted to play and I wanted to play early, so when he told me I was the starter, I was excited, but I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea the amount of responsibility."

The Huskies ended 2-9 that season and, two-thirds of the way through the 2002 season, UConn was 2-6, meaning Orlovsky had started 14 games and won just two.

"That first year was not fun," Orlovsky said.

"I didn't go to UConn thinking we were going to be great off the bat, but, truthfully, after my freshman year and some of the losses we had, I remember contemplating transferring. I had conversations with my father about it and he looked at me, and said, `Listen, you gave these people your word and you can't turn your back on that.' That resonated with me and I was thankful that he said that to me. But that was a tough time."

Much as in 2001, the Huskies struggled badly through the first four games this season, losing all four and forcing athletic director Warde Manuel to fire Pasqualoni and elevate Weist, the offensive coordinator, to the interim head job.

And while that drama played out, the wheels had already been spinning to replace Whitmer with Boyle. Boyle, a pro-style, read-option QB, had come to UConn -- after he backed out of his initial commitment to attend Boston College -- with two other freshmen quarterbacks, Richard Lagow and Kivon Taylor.

Lagow left the program and transferred to Oklahoma State, leaving Boyle and Taylor to battle for the No. 3 spot behind second-string QB Casey Cochran. But standing 6-foot-4 and with a rocket arm, Boyle quickly started getting more and more of the reps with the second-team offense.

All under the assumption that he could be playing at any moment.

"I was just going to go with the flow. Whatever they needed me to do," Boyle said before the Buffalo game, a 41-12 loss.

"Be the fourth-string quarterback or the first string or second string, I'm just going to do what I'm asked to do and do the best job I can."

As a senior at Xavier, Boyle was 129 for 212 for 2,096 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions, according to stats found on MaxPreps.com. For his career, Boyle was 163 for 267 (61 percent) for 2,880 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

He also rushed for 376 yards on 72 carries (a 5.22 average) and scored eight touchdowns for his career.

"Timmy's got all the physical skills. He really became a student of the game his senior year, and I know that's been true at UConn. He's probably as ready as any true freshman's going to be to step up to that level. I think he's going to do very well and I'm really looking forward to seeing him play."

Staples coach Marce Petroccio, whose team lost to Xavier 42-7 in the 2011 Class LL championship, remembers watching film of Boyle and almost being in awe.

"He had presence, he had athletic ability, he was strong, he was tough and when he threw the ball, it was like a rocket ship coming out of his hand," Petroccio said. "Just to watch film on him, we were impressed. But come game time, he gets in for a series and he runs a play-action and I mean, he throws the ball on a rope (it was a 58-yard touchdown pass) and really changed the game for them. I just couldn't have been more impressed with the kid that night."

This summer, Petroccio became even more impressed.

"It just so happens that we got to the UConn football camp and he's there taking summer classes and I met him," Petroccio said. "He's even a more impressive kid off the field. He's mature for his age, he's intense, a great leader. He shook my hand and he almost broke my hand. He's one tough kid. If there's anybody that can do it (turn UConn's season around), I'd say that Tim could definitely do it."

Dejà vu?

The last time Petroccio saw a kid with this kind of talent and poise ... well, you have to go back to 2000, where a kid named Orlovsky played for Shelton.

"I think Dan Orlovsky was that kind of kid," Petroccio said. "They both have the presence and this quiet confidence about them. Not arrogance, its confidence. They make people around them better and it think that's Tim will do. He's just a phenomenal football player. I haven't seen a kid like that since Dan Orlovsky, to be honest. Not a pro-style, pocket passer like that. He's got all the tools and they're (UConn) making the right decision."

Added Marinan: "He's the guy that everyone's looking at to be in charge and I think he's embraced that role and he's just going to get better at it. He's willing to hang in the pocket, he's not going to take off too early, he'll stay in there to make that throw and take a shot. But he does have the ability to hurt you with his legs."

Orlovsky has not met Boyle but knows a lot about him through several state connections that keep him updated of players and teams throughout the state. His advice?

"I'd tell him that he doesn't have to be the savior, he just needs to be part of the team," Orlovsky said. "Just do your job, be part of the 11. There will be people that will doubt him and there will be bumps along the road, but he's got to have a really strong belief in himself. He's got to act and make people think that he's `the guy.' As long as he works hard and demands that same hard work from everyone else, he'll be setting the foundation for being `the guy.'"

All throughout preseason camp, Boyle worked with Whitmer -- the two players are roommates -- on learning the offense. And in those early days, Whitmer couldn't help but notice the potential.

"He's (Boyle) a great player, no doubt about that, but I've got a couple of years on him," Whitmer said. "It takes time to experience things. These mistakes that happen in games, that's the only way you can get that experience. For me, that's something I've valued--game reps. You know, he's a great player, he's working hard and I think he's got a bright future."

That future is now.

"I'm a competitor, always have been, always will be," Boyle said at media day in August. "If there's someone better than you at your position, it makes you work harder. You compare yourself (to your competition) all the time to try and rate your potential. Knowing that there's someone in front of me definitely makes me want to work harder. I didn't come to UConn to sit on the bench for four or five years, I came here to play."